The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    May 1 is May Day , the chimney sweeps’ holiday. It’s the perfect day to bring you a podcast about Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier . The book introduces us to Nan, a chimney climber, and her golem friend Charlie, a creature made of soot. This middle grade novel won the 2019 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Jewish children’s books, along with numerous other literary awards. In this lush, dense interview, Jonathan gives us much to think about! Here are links to some of the resources mentioned during our conversation: The Last of the Climbing Boys by George Elson Story Guild writing workshops Flash Point Fire Rescue game Rise Up : The Game of People & Power Spell Smashers loot collecting word game Superfight : A Game of Absurd Arguments CREDITS: Produced by: F...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮   The Length of a String won a 2019 Sydney Taylor Honor Award in the Older Readers Category. It's a middle grade novel about Imani, an adopted black Jewish girl who wants to learn about her birth parents. When she inherits a Holocaust-era diary from her Jewish great-grandmother, she begins to see family in a whole new way. I spoke to author Elissa Brent Weissman by Skype. Elissa Brent Weissman CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band     Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast      Twitter: @bookoflifepod    Patreon: patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473. 

The Book of Life Podcast will host a Live Show in Woodland Hills, California near Los Angeles on June 17, 2019 at 5:30PM as part of the Association of Jewish Libraries 54th Annual Conference. Guests include Joni Sussman of Kar-Ben Publishing and author / illustrator / musician Barney Saltzberg, famous for his book Beautiful Oops. The live show is free! Conference-goers get in automatically. All others must RSVP by June 10th to be admitted. Email bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com for details.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Paula Shoyer is known as The Kosher Baker . I met her at Limmud , a one day conference of Jewish learning on a wide variety of topics, held in December 2018 in Boca Raton, Florida. Paula was there to present two sessions: " Are Your Jewish Holiday Meals Dangerous? " and " Jewish Cookbooks Tell Our Stories ." We sat down between sessions in the breezy courtyard for this interview. CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band     Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast      Twitter: @bookoflifepod    Patreon: patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473. 

The Highlights Foundation symposium " Beyond the Holocaust and Holidays: Who Are We and What Are We Writing? " asked these questions: What stories do today’s children need from Jewish book creators and about Jewish people? What stories speak to our varied experiences? And how can we diversify the existing body of Jewish children’s literature? Participants gathered to explore where Jewish novelists fit in the business of writing for children and teens. "Beyond the Holocaust" was featured on The Book of Life in January 2019 when we recorded a panel discussion among several of the presenters. The workshop was held in March 2019, and I invited organizer Linda Epstein to reflect on how it went. LINDA EPSTEIN   "We can literally make the world a better place one book at a time." Rather than being structured as a weekend where the faculty were teaching the students principles or concepts relative to writing Jewish children’s literature, the weeke...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    VISIT CRAIG TAUBMAN'S WEBSITE      🕮    Craig Taubman is coming to Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton! If you will be in South Florida, don't miss this show! Call 561-241-8118 for tickets or BUY TICKETS HERE . Listen to a special message from Craig now, and keep an eye on The Book of Life for an upcoming full-length interview! CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band     Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast      Twitter: @bookoflifepod    Patreon: patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Book of Life’s Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin spoke to author Anne Renaud after she won the 2018 Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Fania’s Heart , a Holocaust picture book for older readers. It’s the true story of a heart-shaped birthday card created in Auschwitz at great personal risk by women prisoners, from scraps of fabric, stolen materials, and glue made out of bread and water, for the 20 th birthday of fellow prisoner Fania Landau Fainer. The real heart is now in the Montreal Holocaust Museum , and it’s one of the few surviving objects created by prisoners of Auschwitz. Be sure to check out this documentary , which was the inspiration for Renaud to write this book. For a book about Fania, aimed at teen readers, see Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott. CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Theme music: The...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Before I moved from Massachusetts back to Florida, I visited with Jane Yolen and Barbara Diamond Goldin to talk about their joint book of original feminist midrash, Meet Me at the Well: The Girls and Women of the Bible . We sat down in Jane’s sunny kitchen and they just let it all pour out; I hardly needed to ask any questions! I’d love to hear about YOUR favorite Biblical women, so please do call our voicemail at 561-206-2473 or leave a comment at bookoflifepodcast.com . CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band    Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast     Twitter: @bookoflifepod     Patreon: patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookof...